historia. naturalis.

This starfish looking piece is from the Historia Naturalis collection by Edra. And the only information I have on the Historia is "new creatures by Fernando and Humberto Campana." Hm, thanks Edra Web site, very helpful. From what I can gather by (briefly) Googling, this is part a traveling exhibit, which means you can't buy it. I don't suppose too many people are in the market for a giant starfish shaped, er, thing, in any case. But if I had a huge aquarium and needed seating for it, I'd be all over this.

By the way, I think there is one starfish thing piled on top of another in this picture, so that their arms interlock. Check out the Edra Web site for other views of this piece, as well as other cool stuff from the Historia collection. Be warned, the images are slightly NSFW...there is a naked woman lounging on the furniture in some shots.

knock. off.

This is a ridiculously fun lamp for big little kids. The Knock Off not only looks like a bowling pin, it's a lamp that's actually made to be knocked down. In fact, you have to knock it down to turn it off. Naturally setting it up straight turns it on. Brilliant. And only $22.

blow. table. lamp.

This is another one of those lamps that blurs the line between "lamp" and "art" for me. I mean sure, Blow lights up stuff and whatnot, but it's really more fun to look at than use. Basically it's a lamp encased in a globe, and the absolute coolest part is that you move the lamp around using a magnet on the outside of the globe! Okay, I take it back, maybe it's more fun to play with then to look at. The only downside is it costs $1,363, and of course once the bulb burns out you have to throw it away.


(Just kidding on that last part.)

thanks. apartment. therapy. mocoloco. curbed. tree. hugger. design*sponge.

Special thanks to Apartment Therapy, Mocoloco, Tree Hugger, Curbed and Design*Sponge for hosting a great event at the DWR store in New York. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to meet everyone, but to everyone I did meet, it was a true pleasure! And if you're reading this and have not checked out those blogs, I highly recommend all of them.

sarah. clock.

If you're looking for something as far away from a grandfather clock (or the Grandpa Clock below) as possible, check out Sarah by Esby. It's an "abstracted botanical form" inspired by both the shape and the movement of plants -- the flexible graphite stem lets Sarah sway gently in the breeze. Maybe not so good for reading the time, but it does make the clock look cool. Sarah is 5 feet tall and comes in natural, orange, white, green, yellow or custom colors. It seems to run $350-$499 at various online stores I Googled.

grandpa. clock.

Putting inexpensive clock hands and guts into a picture of a clock isn't quite the newest or most elegant thing I've seen, but Jansen + Co. found a way to really make this work with their Grandpa Clock. What I like here is the combination of size (this sucker is a little over 5 feet tall) and the nice retro feel of the clock image, which lends this piece some gravitas. Plus it's functional art, and you get a grandfather clock without having some massive-yet-delicate piece of machinery to worry about. A little of the elegance is lost because Grandpa runs on (snicker) batteries, but hey, it's only $75 and doesn't weigh much at all, so I'll live with the AAs.

dog. sofa.

If you love your dog and you love furniture, consider getting yourself and your mutt a Dog Sofa. Inspired by the larger Le Corbusier seating for dog owners (and other humans), this piece comes with all sorts of options including size, color and construction materials. The cover is both removable and washable, which is a must for dog furniture in my opinion. These are made in Italy and cost $248 - $774. Woof!